Rasmussen finds small team; GT unlikely

Michael Rasmussen has revealed that in 2010, he will be riding for Italian Pro Continental team CDC-Cavaliere. This will likely put an end to his ambitious plan to ride a Grand Tour.

CDC-Cavaliere will evolve from the Italian Continental team Centri della Calzatura-Cavaliere, according to Biciciclismo. The team will have to hope for a wild card from either Giro organizer RCS or from the Vuelta in order for Rasmussen to make his comeback in a Grand Tour. The Tour de France definitely seems out of question.

Two new hires include Daniele Callegarin (Centri della Calzature) and Bernardo Riccio (Ceramica Flaminia). Riccio started as a stagiaire for Tinkoff and rode for them in 2008; Callegarin had a consistent season and finished 10th in the Italian road championships. But if they can provide the necessary power to the team for a wildcard selection is questionable.

Rasmussen was kicked out of the 2007 Tour for lying about his whereabouts and was suspended for two years. He gave his comeback last month with the Tecos team and had a good Vuelta a Chihuahua. He led the race until two stages to go and blamed his team for a tactical blunder that dropped him to sixth overall, while teammate Gregorio Ladino Vega finished second to Oscar Sevilla (Rock Racing) by six seconds.